Computer-navigated surgery has become widely used in orthopedics in recent decades, thanks to its proven effectiveness in knee, hip and shoulder arthroplasty. This solution provides real-time assistance to the surgeon in the operating room, optimizing implant sizing and positioning. During the surgery, a specific module localizes the patient's anatomical structures thanks to markers located on the bone structures and the surgeon's instruments. Navigation software displays relevant clinical information to assist the surgeon. Existing solutions are mainly based on bi-ocular optical cameras that localize markers fixed to the areas of interest. The size and weight of the markers make these solutions unsuitable for extremity surgery, in particular trapeziometacarpal arthroplasty, where the size of the incision and bones is very small (of the order of a cm). In this context, the XtremLoc project will offer the first integrated solution to assist the surgeon and to accurately guide the fitting of a metacarpal prosthesis. The pathology targeted here is rhizarthrosis, that is osteoarthritis affecting the trapeziometacarpal joint at the base of the thumb. It is the most common form of osteoarthritis in the hand and has increased significantly in recent years, due to the more regular use of keyboards and smartphones. The main objective of the XtremLoc project is to develop a complete navigation system to repair these small joints. This device will guide the surgeon during the implantation of a trapeziometacarpal prosthesis and contribute to optimize its positioning, enabling the patient to regain better mobility and limit post-operative complications. The solution proposed in this project is based on three innovative aspects. The first involves the design of non-invasive three-dimensional optical localization system, having a micrometric accurate and compatible with the operating room environment. It incorporates mini optical retroreflectors (volume in the order of mm3) attached to bones and surgical instruments, to localize them using high-speed (kHz) laser beam scanning technology. This scanning is performed by MEMS mirrors that can rotate around two orthogonal axes. By exploiting the reflections of the laser beams on these retroreflectors, it is possible to localize them and the structures that carry them in real time (i.e. the patient's anatomical features and the surgeon's probing instruments), in terms of both position and orientation. The second component is a software suite orchestrating planning and guidance. It is based on automatic segmentation and modelling of bone structures from scanner images, enabling detection of patient-specific anatomical features and calculation of optimal implant positioning. A precise registration method between intraoperative information from optical sensors and planning data enables intraoperative guidance of the surgeon. The third part of the project involves the integration of a navigated surgery prototype combining the above hardware and software bricks. The physical implementation of the localization module will be brought into line with the rules governing housing watertightness, instrument sterilization and ocular safety, so that it can be integrated into the surgical workflow. Navigation tests will be carried out on the surgical platform PLaTIMed, enabling a complete surgery to be performed on anatomical specimens, and the final demonstrator to be validated in a realistic environment.

The aim of the OPTIMUM project is to study both experimentally and numerically metal joints produced by linear friction welding (LFW). An original and comprehensive approach which links the welding process parameters, their effects on the microstructure evolution and the consequences on the final use properties of the welded components, will be developed. The focus will be on joining new grades of titanium based or nickel based alloys and joining dissimilar materials. Multi-scale characterization techniques will be used in order to deeply analyze the effects of the process parameters on the microstructure evolution in the welded zone (i.e. the ability to interpret the mechanisms behind the different observed microstructure zones). Using finite element method, a simulation tool of the LFW process will be developed in order to study the evolutions of the thermal, the kinematic and the stress fields during the welding process. The numerical tool will describe the different steps of the LFW process and will be validated based on several experimental data (e.g. thermal fields, force-displacement…). This numerical modeling will help in interpreting the physical phenomena responsible of the microstructure evolution (e.g. the temperature level reached and the microstructure transformation, the stress fields and the refining of the microstructure). The OPTIMUM project has four main work-packages: The first work-package is devoted to welding of different pairs of titanium-based or nickel-based materials. Tests will be conducted for various process parameters (forging pressure, frequency and amplitude of oscillations) and for different geometrical configurations. The second work-package is dedicated to the physical-chemical analysis and the microstructure analysis of the weld zone supplemented by measurements of residual stresses and by hardness profiles performed by an instrumented nanoindentation technique. The third work-package is dedicated to the development of a thermo-mechanical simulation tool of the LFW process in the Forge ® software environment. The quality of the developed numerical tool will be evaluated through the comparison of experimental and numerical data such as the fields of local thermal gradients , the geometry of the welded joint (e.g. size and geometry of the burr ) and the material consumption (i.e. the reduction in the size of the slug of materials after assembly ). This tool will be subsequently used to help in the interpretation of the observed microstructure evolution (local mechanical fields, cooling rates ...). The fourth work-package of the project deals with the study of service life of welds by using 3D non-destructive experimental techniques such as X-ray tomography and laminography for the analysis of defects induced by the process (e.g. porosity). Some in situ tests with a monitoring of the damage evolution and/or crack propagation will be realized by sequential mechanical tests or in situ sub synchrotron beam.

The Isoredu project consists in studying the resilience of computing systems in small companies, associations and local authorities. The activity of such actors rely on their digital apps and services. In case of failure or data losses, the consequences may be tragic for their business. In order to increase the resilience of computing system, we observe a trend to the externalization, mainly towards large international operators in the cloud. However, delegating its own computing system may have some drawbacks in terms of economic dependency (the cloud operator is in strong position), sovereignty (cloud operator may have to conform with foreign laws that do not guaranty the confidentiality), technology (the reversibility, that is the fact to stop with this operator, is complex), know-how (by not maintaining the required skill, how to face in case of crisis?) or infrastructure (the network has to be operational to reach the data). Externalization do improve the resiliency but this does not mean centralization nor dependency. To the contrary, resilience and non-dependency would encourage to build distributed local architectures that could ensure collectively their own resilience: in case a member fails, the others could supply. Moreover such architectures would have a lower impact on the environment and this is a crucial point. Indeed, computer architectures are concerned by the sustainability because they consume more and more energy, contributing themselves indirectly to some future crisis. In particular, the data-center model has to be questioned. The Isorédu project will focus on the relationship between resilience, dependency and sustainability. As a case study, it will consider data storage and will propose a distributed data saving solution for local partners standing together to face crisis. For this purpose, life-cycle assessment will be studied on the proposed solutions. The project is organized as follows: - organizing a network of local partners to study use cases; - defining a criteriology to characterize the non functional exigences of resilience, dependency and sustainability in order to deduce a methodology for designing resilient non-dependent and sustainable computing systems; - test the methodology and the approach by designing a prototype of distributed data saving solution dedicated to local partners ensuring jointly their resilience; - experiment this prototype in real situation in the aim of evaluation with the help of local partners.

The French river network consists of approximately 18,000 km of waterways, of which 8,500 km are navigable. This network includes rivers and canals that have been developed and opened for transport. France has one of the longest networks of navigable waterways in Europe. This mode of transport has the advantage of generating lower CO2 emissions than road transport per tonne transported. Overall, over the last decade, inland waterway transport has intensified, notably with an increase in the volumes transported. This strong modal shift towards river transport therefore generates new issues such as clean, economical, safe and intelligent ships. This implies research into manoeuvrability, fuel consumption and the environmental impact of navigation. There are many issues at stake: better dimensioning of infrastructures in relation to the evolution of the fleet and climate change, studying facilities in relation to the problems of agitation, stability, crossing or reflection of waves. Inland navigation intervenes in an environment that is not only fragile, due to the richness of its biodiversity, but also highly dynamic and variable. In this context, the hydrodynamic problems related to the river environment will become a key issue in order to optimize the use of waterways while protecting the environment and its biodiversity, whether ecological or related to heritage. Indeed, navigation has a direct impact on the balance of the river ecosystem. the waves generated by vessels destruct the riverbanks and channels. This erosion phenomenon is mainly related to the wave heights generated by vessels wake and to the significant flow velocity generated by their passage through the waterway. Many parameters govern the formation and propagation of these waves and related flow velocity: geometry of the waterway, shape and speed of the boat, velocity and direction of the current, type of bank layout, and so on. Although several studies have already been carried out with this in mind, they have not made it possible to quantify the instantaneous impacts of hydrodynamic action. As a consequence, it is essential to understand the influence of ship and channel parameters on flow and sediment transports in rivers in order to implement the appropriate structural arrangements to minimise the impact of inland navigation on the environment. This challenge is essential for the manager to ensure an economical and environmentally friendly means of transport. Based on the skills and resources of the partners, INFLUE focuses on the impact of navigation on the river environment. Identifying hydrodynamic and the interaction of the generated flow with sediment are important for of the channel management, including waterway planning, navigation-related problems in busy waters, riverbank protection, and sediment continuity in the river. The knowledge gap is mainly due to the many and complex interacting factors that are involved in the erosion process, especially when ship waves and resulted currents are present. The complexity of factors affecting erosion rates involves (i) waves and currents induced by ships that vary in size, speed, loading, and traveling distances from the bank, (ii) spatially varying bank geotechnical characteristics, (iii) entrainment rates of bank material and its characteristic. It is particularly difficult to isolate the effects of the single factors due to their simultaneous occurrence and mutual interactions. INFLUE objectives are to characterize the local processes that determine the evolution of unprotected banks in navigable regulated rivers in order, finally, to establish predictive models to quantify the riverbank stability. To achieve, detailed investigations are needed to better characterize the factors controlling hydrodynamics due to ship motion in confined water. Study of processes that drive bank erosion and stability, integrate the roles of relevant factors such as sediment characteristics is proposed.

Social touch is central to interpersonal interactions in everyday life. It is however crucially lacking in interactions with virtual agents. There is no currently existing technology that can generate in a satisfying way the feeling of being touched by a virtual agent during a social interaction in Virtual Reality (VR). Our goal is to address this challenge while alleviating as much as possible the need for tactile stimulation. We seek to identify the minimal conditions for the feeling of being touched to emerge, by investigating the impact of multisensory integration, agency and social context. We will optimize the effect of gestural and contextual parameters on the perception of social touch. We will use crossmodal strategies to induce the illusion of touch in VR by supplementing it with other sensory modalities, such as audio. We will also manipulate the virtual agent’s multimodal behavior (facial expressions, gaze, gesture) to maximize the impression of touch and associated affective reactions.